This article is an extension of the poem posted here last week. Since that poem was a part of some contest, it was limited to only three quatrains. You can read it here:
Personal Choice!
Why Am I Concerned With Your Eating Habits?
Yes, it’s your life and your taste. You can eat whatever that pleases you if you can afford it. It’s your personal choice what you eat and what you don’t eat. Why even am I making it an issue?
Well, because I’m concerned! Not just about you but I’m concerned about myself as well as all others. And your eating habits make a huge difference to the lives of all of us. Let me explain it in some detail to make a little more sense.
What Does Freedom To Personal Choice Mean?
Freedom gives you to think, speak and do whatever you wish as long as it doesn’t interfere with the freedom of another being. Like you are free to slap on your own cheek but you don’t have any freedom to slap someone else. I think it’s easy to get this 😊. You cannot encroach in anybody’s personal territory without his/her expressed permission. But outside that you are free to roam around anywhere. You are free to thrust a blow until where the boundary of someone’s nose begins. After that boundary, you lose your right to wave your fist because someone else’s freedom of good health and peaceful existence is being affected by your actions!
So What Does This Has Anything To Do With My Meals?
Just like the above examples, you are free to eat whatever you like but only up to the extent that it doesn’t affect the freedom of free life of any other sentient being. With sentient beings, I mean all those beings of our planet who can suffer and feel pain and have equal right to the resources of this planet for their own survival. Humans have categorized many of the sentient beings as their “food”. Widely popular among these beings are pigs, chicks, fishes, cows, goats, sheep, emus, turkeys etc. In fact many of the animals and birds are labeled as “food animals” or “game animals” by humans. Hunting and fishing are described as hobbies by many people. But it’s an indubitable fact that all these animals and birds lose their lives for the sake of our pleasure. Is that can be defined as our freedom when they pay it by their lives? When it’s proven beyond doubt that humans can survive (and not only survive but thrive) without consuming any of the animal derived products, what right do we have to inflict such violence on other beings? Why do humans feel that these creatures don’t have any right to their own life and they are being farmed, tortured, exploited and murdered in billions every year just for the sake of their palate pleasure?
But Why Are You Concerned?
I Ain’t Offending Your Rights To Life?
Well, you are! By consuming animal derived products, you are increasing the constant market demand for these creatures. It brings a lot of pressure on the animal farming industry. With over 70 billion farmed animals slaughtered every year and trillions of fishes and marine creatures pulled out of water, we are putting tremendous pressure on natural resources. Deforestation is rampant to claim new land for agriculture because of rising demand for animal products. Oceans are converting into dry zones and estimates say that this world will run out of all fishes by 2048 if we keep drawing fishes from oceans at the current rate. Water crisis, climate change, deforestation, land degradation, green house gas emissions, water pollution, species extinction, ocean dead-zone creation are some of the problems intensified by the consumption of the animal products which are leading the whole of humanity to an existential crisis. So why shouldn’t I be concerned about what you eat if my own life is at stake because of it?
Here Are Some Facts to Ponder on:
• More than 6 million animals are killed for food every hour.
• Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.
• Worldwide, at least 50% of grain is fed to livestock.
• Livestock covers 45% of the earth’s total land.
• Emissions for agriculture projected to increase 80% by 2050.
• Animal agriculture water consumption ranges from 34-76 trillion gallons annually.
• Agriculture is responsible for 80-90% of US water consumption.
• Animal Agriculture is responsible for 20%-33% of all fresh water consumption in the world today.
• Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction.
• 130 times more animal waste than human waste is produced in the US – 1.4 billion tons from the meat industry annually. 5 tons of animal waste is produced per person in the US.
• 3/4 of the world’s fisheries are exploited or depleted.
• 90-100 million tons of fish are pulled from our oceans each year.
• As many as 2.7 trillion animals are pulled from the ocean each year.
• Livestock operations on land have created more than 500 nitrogen flooded dead-zones around the world in our oceans.
• 1/3 of the planet is desertified, with livestock as the leading driver.
• Scientists estimate as many as 650,000 whales, dolphins and seals are killed every year by fishing vessels.
• We could see fishless oceans by 2048.
• Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 91% of Amazon destruction.
• 136 million rainforest acres cleared for animal agriculture.
• Up to 137 plant, animal and insect species are lost every day due to rainforest destruction.
• 2,500 gallons of water are needed to produce 1 pound of beef.
• Cows produce 150 billion gallons of methane per day.
• 477 gallons of water are required to produce 1lb. of eggs; almost 900 gallons of water are needed for 1lb. of cheese.
• 1,000 gallons of water are required to produce 1 gallon of milk.
• Californians use 1500 gallons of water per person per day. Close to Half is associated with meat and dairy products.
Ever Heard of Second-Hand Smoking?
I hope you have heard of second hand smoking or passive smoking. It’s the smoke which is passed on by a smoker to a non-smoker present in close proximity while exhaling the smoke. Several countries and states have a law to protect the non-smokers by making it illegal to smoking in public. Although smoking is a personal choice as far as the smoker is concerned but if that activity is negatively impacting other non-smokers (or even smokers) present close by then it’s no more a personal choice. Because it must include the choice of everyone being affected by that activity. Similarly, eating animal based products can be called Second Hand Eating. When a person eat any animal derived products like egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey etc., there is no doubt that the animal from whose body that product is being derived is directly impacted but all other beings are also being pushed towards the verge of extinction. Intensive animal farming industry is unsustainable and keeping away from consuming any animal product is in the best interest of all creatures who share this planet with us.
So yes, I’m very much concerned with what you are eating if your diet contains any animal derived product. It’s NOT your personal choice. There are several other parties involved in it ...including me.
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List of References to all facts and figures can be found here.